


Redder Than a Magmar

by firagarif



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Completed, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I'm awkward with words, Jokes, One Shot, Palletshipping, Sleeping In The Kitchen?, Some Coffee, kanto, not actually romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-23 22:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8344864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firagarif/pseuds/firagarif
Summary: It had been over the span of a week since Ash had lost in the Indigo League and he had retreated back home to Pallet Town, Misty and Brock in tow. His mom had gratefully let him stay, but at a price.





	

It had been over the span of a week since Ash had lost in the Indigo League and he had retreated back home to Pallet Town, Misty and Brock in tow. His mom had gratefully let him stay, but at a price. 

"Oak has filled his lab with Pokémon due to the declining weather. He's also sheltered some into his house." She said, her rather cheerful voice lowering. "He's gotten very limited space as is, I couldn't help but invite him into the house." She stated, smiling sheepishly at Ash.

"So Professor Oak is staying here? That's fine with me." Ash replied, looking around the house. "Where is he anyway?"

Delia laughed a little. "Honey, Professor Oak has to stay in his lab to care for the Pokémon, even if there are alot. I invited Gary Oak because that boy's home is filled to the brim with Pokémon." She finished, watching as Ash nodded.

"Oh okay. Wait, what?!" He shrieked. His rival was going to be staying at his house for who knows how long. Where was he even going to be sleeping. Delia hushed him.

"Don't worry, I've already given him a spare bedroom for right now." She said, as if reading the boy's thoughts, but Ash was still contemplating on the idea.

"I still hate him, that doesn't change the fact he's going to be in the same house now." The trainer retorted, frowning. Brock looked over at Misty before back at Delia. He placed a firm hand on Ash's shoulder.

"I don't want to get in the middle of this, but if you'd prefer, we can just go to a Pokémon Center." Brock offered Ash, the raven losing his frown.

"No, no. I'll just stay here." Ash waved off his anger, gaining a sigh from Misty.

"Indecisive as ever." She muttered, looking over at Brock. Brock just shrugged as a silence fell over the group.

Delia didn't like silence all that much and decided to break it. "Well if you don't mind, I'd like to hear about your journey. But let's please keep our voices down." She smiled, grabbing a tray of pastries and four cups of steaming liquid, placing it on the coffee table and seating herself on the recliner. Ash, Brock and Misty then took spots on the sofa.

The trio didn't seem to really grasp the concept of why they were supposed to be quiet but they did so, explaining everything that happened within the few months of being together. Delia seemed quiet throughout all of it, only making small comments before letting them continue. When Ash had finally gotten to the League part of his journey, it seemed Delia got a bit more quiet. She didn't say anything else until the very end.

"And that's only what's happened so far!" Ash declared in his excitement to notice how high his voice had raised. Misty frowned as Delia laughed.

"Ash, please don't yell." She asked of her son, who nodded an 'okay' before straightening himself up. His mother thanked him before looking at the once full tray, which was now empty. She grabbed it off the table and put it away for cleaning. Delia then returned, nearing the stairs. "Please excuse me for a moment." She smiled as she made her way up the staircase. 

"You moron, she said not to yell." Misty scolded. Ash sighed and looked over at her.

"Why can't I yell? I live here." Ash asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Misty wanted to respond but she didn't know what the answer was. A door above them opened and footsteps trudged on the second floor, causing the trio and Pikachu to glance up.

"Togepi!" The egg Pokémon chirped, smiling and waving around it's stub hands. Misty lifted her small Pokémon and turned it to be facing her.

"What is it, Togepi?" She asked, earning another lively chirp from the Pokémon. Pikachu then chirped it's own name at Ash, looking up at him from his position on the boy's lap.

"Huh, Pikachu, you too?" He asked, watching as the electric mouse ruffled up his hair and pointed it up in spikes, trying to impersonate someone.

"Pika-Pi." It chirped again, folding it's ears back to show off its spiked hair more easily. A grim frown then formed over his face and it's tone lowered as it began chirping it's name again.

Beside Ash, Brock put a hand over his mouth to hold in his laughter, mimicking a similar reaction from Misty; who had put Togepi back in a resting position on her legs. Ash looked over at the two, then back at Pikachu. He shrugged. "I don't get it guys, what's so funny. Ah. What're you-." Ash then began shaking as laughter consumed him. Pikachu began playfully punching Ash in the stomach. Only gaining an opposite reaction from his trainer.

"Jeez Ash, you can't be that dumb, can you?" Misty scoffed, calming her laugh to watch the Pikachu punch-tickling it's trainer.

Ash pushed his Pikachu away long enough to wipe at his watery eyes and stop laughing hysterically. Brock simply coughed away the humor. He opened his mouth to explain for the dumbfounded trainer but a loud yawn erupted from the staircase, dragging away everyone's attention.

"Evening Delia." A familiar voice announced, glancing over at the group on the sofa, one of which was staring viciously at him. "Oh, hello Ashy." Gary greeted, waving with a light smile as he side-stepped, allowing the ravens mother to pass him down the stairs.

"Did you have a good nap?" Delia asked, smiling lightly at Gary who put an elbow on the railing and mounted his head atop the palm of his hand. He looked directly at his fuming rival.

"Yes, I wasn't expecting such a rude awakening but I think I got enough sleep." His smile turning into a harsh smirk that was meant to insult the raven, and he was definitely seeing the predicted results.

"That's good." Ash's mother walked up to him, lightly ruffling his hair as she passed by, seating herself down at the recliner again. As Delia passed by, Gary stuck his tongue out at Ash, gaining a growl from the trainer. The boy was only reminded that he was about to blindly charge when a reassuring hand grasped his shoulder.

Brock seemed to whisper something inaudible but it definitely caught Ash's ears and he straightened his posture. "Sit down." Gary then stepped down onto the floor, his hand lightly grazing against the railing as he seated himself at the opposing recliner to Delia. The recliner which was mere inches to Ash's seat. The raven confidently crossed his arms, looking over at his rival.

Ash's eyes met with Gary and their gaze became a staring contest, besides both boys allowing the other to blink. Gary rested his head in his palm again. And as much as Delia was a fan of the silence, she had to break it once more; things between the two rivals looked a little heated right now. Her cheerful smile appearing again. "Let's play a game!" The woman clapped her hands together as the idea came to mind.

Gary took in a breath before looking over at Delia, which warmed Ash's center a little. He won that one, and he had a guess to why too. And as he watched his rival stand and produce a deck of cards from a drawer, did he realize he was staring. He quickly drew his gaze to the table with a deck of cards on it.

"How about a game of cards?"

It was late, the sun had already set and the sky littered with stars when Misty and Gary had finally finished their game, the Oak taking her by a storm. He chuckled. "Guess not everyone can be a winner." He stated, looking at the orange haired girl.

"Yeah! Well I think you're cheating. That's the fifth time you've gotten all four aces!" The water trainer fumed, holding up a fist.

"Well atleast I'm not going off dumb luck like Ashy here." Gary laughed, pointing at the raven who frowned. Brock sighed, forcing Ash back into his seat for the umpteenth time that day. The chestnut collected all the cards and placed them in the middle. "I think that's it for now." He sighed as the girl yawned. Misty nodded, grabbing Togepi and jumping off the couch.

Delia opened the door and walked into the room, wearing a small jacket and boots on her feet. All eyes fell onto her. She chuckled before making her way over to the door. "Listen everyone, I'm going out for the night. I'll be home late, so you all better be asleep by then. Now Misty, I don't want you sleeping in any of the rooms with a male and Ash..." She paused, looking over at the blushing orange head then back at her son. "Remember to change you-know-what before bed!" She hummed, opening the door and making her way outside, closing it after her.

Gary laughed at Delia's comment, and at Ash's now blushing red face. "You get embarrassed too easily Ashy." The Oak teased, looking over at Misty. The orange head looked ready to pass out. He hummed in thought before stepping over to her. "You can stay in my room, I'll sleep on the couch." He smiled as their eyes met, earning a smirk from her.

"It's not as comfortable as you make it out to be but suit yourself." The gym trainer hummed in amusement as she turned away to make her way up the stairs. "Goodnight guys!" She announced as her footsteps faded away.

Brock sighed, looking at the now non-embarassed Ash. "Well, I guess I'll go make myself comfortable on the stove." The rock trainer pointed towards the kitchen door and went through it, leaving the two rivals.

Pikachu chirped at Ash, cuddling himself into the ravens lap and snoozing off. The atmosphere between the two boys seemed to change almost instantaneously.

"You going to bed?" Gary asked in his playful tone, which would've sounded seductive to any else, had any else but Ash been listening.

"No, I'll be waiting for my mom." He excused himself as the chestnut took a seat beside him on the couch. Only a few inches away.

"Suit yourself, but if you get tired then go to sleep." Gary stated, as more of an order than a statement. But Ash already knew it was an order. The raven gave a curt nod before looking over at Gary, who had produced a remote and clicked on the TV. The quality was bad and the voices were scratchy so Ash pried his attention off the screen and onto his Pokedex.

With a simple motion, the red encyclopedia opened and beeped to life, numbers flashing on the screen. He managed to plug his finger onto the mute button before the machine could rant on how many Pokémon he had seen and how many he had caught. With a sigh, he scrolled through the Pokémon in numerical order. He felt eyes watching his hands scroll through the numbers that felt so embarrassing and he quickly shuffled to pull his legs onto the couch, his back leaning on Gary's shoulder. The chestnut scoffed, seeming to avert his attention back on the TV. With a smirk of success, Ash continued scrolling through his Pokedex. His fingers seemed to stop on a brown, fluffy Pokémon. A hand grazed lightly against his hair, almost petting him with a soothing touch he knew was Gary's.

"I see you haven't caught an Eevee yet." The Oak chuckled, pointing at some text on the screen that read 'caught: none'. Ash huffed out his cheeks in a Jigglypuff manner, lightly petting his resting Pikachu. "They are rare, so try going to Celadon Mansion. I've heard a man was giving them out for free. But if you don't want to travel, you could always purchase an egg. Eevee eggs are very common." Gary advised, turning his attention back to the TV.

The raven nodded, continuing to scroll through the Pokedex. And with a few tips and location giveaways, Ash felt like he was a Pokémon master. A yawn escaped him, gaining a glare from his rival. "I'm not tired." The raven persisted, looking at the chestnut before back at the small Pokedex screen.

Gary hummed, continuing to look at the TV. "How long does it take for Brock to usually fall asleep?" He questioned, glancing over at the kitchen door. Ash shrugged.

"Brock usually drops faster than a rock." He giggled, looking over at Gary who was covering his face with a hand, but he was smiling as if it was actually funny. The Oak let out a breath, dropping his hand.

"And Misty?" He asked, loosening the smile on his face. The raven hummed in thought.

"Well, she looked pretty tired. She probably passed out before making it to the bed." Ash stated, laughing at the image in his head. Gary chuckled along with him. But it wasn't the sneer, it was a happy fulfilling laugh. Another yawn escaped Ash as the boy's eyelids felt heavy, stopping his rivals stifled laugh. "I'm not tired Gary, I'm waiting for my mom." The raven argued against his better judgement. His rival sighed.

"Guess you were easier to persuade when you were younger." The chestnut ruffled the boy's hair, snaking one of his arms around the ravens waist. Even as the raven tried to pry his arm off him, he held tightly to Ash like a Arbok using Wrap. Gary snatched the Pokedex from the ravens grip and placed it on a small table beside the couch.

"No, my weakness!" Ash whisper-yelled, grabbing at Gary's arm. The chestnut refused to release him however. He laughed as the chestnut pulled him into an embrace, his body slowly moving to sit on Gary's lap. "Ah, you've captured me!" The raven joked, pretending to sound defeated. The next yawn sounding more of a hiccup. Gary chuckled.

"I'm going to get you Ashy!" The chestnut announced quietly, being careful enough to not wake the Pikachu, but to pull Ash closer to himself. He then laid his head on his shoulder, squeezing the raven lightly.

"Oh no, I can't escape!" Ash scoffed, as if in distress. Pikachu lightly stirred before letting out a weak jolt of electricity through Ash and Gary. Both boys shrieked, causing the mouse to stir awake. Pikachu gave the two boy's a glance before chirping it's name and running up the stairs to where they both assumed was the raven's room. Ash's light chuckle cut the silence, and soon both 'rivals' were laughing.

Gary cleared his throat, smiling at Ash. "Pikachu saw that." Ash frowned.

"Um, Pikachu already knows. I told him." Ash made a straight face, stating a fact. Gary hummed in thought.

"Ash Ketchum, do you have any untold secrets?" The raven looked at chestnut with a shocked look. 

"Me? Have secrets?" Ash asked, wondering if he was still talking to Gary or not. "Not any that I haven't told." He admitted. But something was bugging him. "And what about you?" He asked back, leaning into Gary's embrace.

"I'm always crowded by people. Secrets are never kept so I'm not told anything secretive. But I have plenty of knowledge to fill that empty void." He admitted back, gaining a nod from the raven in his arms.

"If you've got so much knowledge," Ash began, trailing off in thought as he looked down at the arms around him. "Then remind me why we pretend to hate each other?" He asked. The Oak sighed in response.

"We don't have to pretend, I think you were the one who wanted to for a challenge." Gary recalled as if looking back on an old memory. Ash nodded. "I'm only keeping up this charade since you wanted me to. You -or I- can call quits anytime." Another nod from Ash, which showed Gary he was dozing off. The chestnut pulled the raven down, placing a pillow on his lap and laying Ash's head on it.

"I'll call quits... when..." Ash trailed off, his eyes fluttering closed. Gary chuckled and played with stray locks of black hair.

"Goodnight Ashy."

It wasn't soon after Gary too felt the world spin and he fell asleep, an arm still around his raven rival.

When morning came around and Misty trudged down the stairs, looking for Ash as he wasn't in his room, she saw the two rivals cuddling on the couch. 

Ash had his head resting on Gary's lap, the pillow now on the floor. With his arm around the chestnuts waist. Gary seemed to be sitting up, an arm clung to Ash's side as his own head rested in his other arm leaning on the arm rest. Misty blushed, rushing quietly into the kitchen. Only to stumble into Delia and Brock who were cooking silently. Both of them were so fluent in their own actions and so quiet, it was as if they were on TV and someone had turned the volume down. Brock glanced over at Misty and stepped up to her.

"Good morning, want a drink?" He asked, a smile across his face. The image of Ash and Gary flashed in her mind and she shook her head.

"Coffee, lots of coffee." Misty demanded, her eyes widening and both chefs let out a small laugh. Delia then continued cooking.

"I know it's weird but please keep quiet. It's either they are trying to kill each other or they sleep." Brock argued, everyone agreeing with the latter.

Misty sighed as she was handed a steaming mug of coffee. She blew on it lightly before taking a sip. As soon as the liquid met her lips, her eyes twinkled in amazement and she took another, large gulp of it. Even though her insides were burning, she still loved it. Delia smiled at her reaction, turning back to flip some pancake batter in a pan. It landed without a single noise.

"Here, take this to the living room." Brock offered another cup of coffee as Misty nodded and made her way back to the room. Only to see Gary lightly grooming Ash's hair. The raven was still asleep but the chestnut was certainly up.

The orange head blushed, stopping frozen in her spot. Gary looked over at her and frowned. "What's wrong Misty?" He asked, which she screamed at herself. If he spoke so loudly, he could wake Ash. Isn't that what he's preventing?

She stuttered a response. "N-no nothing, he-here's some coffee." Misty stated, passing the chestnut a steaming mug. He gratefully caressed the cup in both hands.

"Thanks. I bet you are embarrassed right now. I would be too." Gary chuckled, taking a sip of the coffee. Misty practically spit out the hot liquid. Why wasn't he embarrassed? She managed to save her own embarrassment by swallowing it quickly.

"Well, it was unexpected. And to see you just sitting there, not screaming at each other. I would've expected you to end him while he was asleep." Misty chuckled, finding the image a little too funny. Gary let it slide.

"Yeah I mean, you see us as rivals so I guess if I were to kill him, that'd be expected." Gary reasoned, lightly rubbing Ash's face and taking another sip of coffee. This caused a large dilemma in Misty's very being. 'See US as rivals'? What was he blabbering about?

Misty cleared her throat. "You mean to say you're not rivals?" She asked, hoping to fill the void before it could expand to so much more.

Gary chuckled. "And he said he had no secrets." He muttered mostly to himself. "It's just a charade. Kind of like a challenge. A game if you will." The chestnut confirmed. Misty frowned.

"So you guys are actually just friends playing pretend?" She asked, still a little skeptic. Gary sighed.

"It's much more than that. Ash wants popularity, which I have, but he doesn't want any of mine. So we've pulled everyone's legs into thinking we hate each other. He just doesn't want to take my spotlight. He wants to find his own." The Oak confessed, stroking his hand through the raven's hair. "And he's doing a pretty good job at it."

Ash then stirred, pulling away from Gary as his eyes slowly opened. He yawned out a tired greeting, rubbing at his sleepy eyes and scanning the room. As soon as his eyes met the orange head, he seemed to shoot up, scrambling himself over to the other side of the couch. "Ashy, you get embarrassed too quickly, you're redder than a Magmar." Gary commented, passing him his mug of coffee.

Ash growled before taking the mug and glancing over at Gary. "Thanks." He said, taking a sip of the coffee before passing it back. Misty chuckled, taking a swig of her own drink. As yet another hot burning sensation filled her throat, she seemed to be content.

Fin.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually know why I wrote this? It was such a long time ago that I figured I just need to get it off my phone. I guess enjoy?


End file.
